The Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron on Monday, a culmination of a few factors that had been building for a while now. One of the biggest issues for Cameron, presumably, was the struggles of quarterback Joe Flacco. Launched by the powerful right arm of Flacco, the Ravens rocketed off to their best offensive start through four games in team history. The Ravens averaged 344.4 net passing yards in those games. But since then, they have averaged 187.2 net passing yards per game. The statistical decline is not just limited to the passing attack, though. They have averaged 23.3 points after averaging 30.3 in the first four weeks and averaged 309 net yards of offense after averaging 424 in their first four games. Now, even with that great start, the Ravens rank 18th in total offense and 16th in passing offense.

Flacco completed 10 of his 13 attempts for 127 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of Sunday's 31-28 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins. According to ESPN Stats and Info, he faced four or fewer rushers on 10 of those 13 dropbacks and was not sacked. But in the second half, the Redskins ratcheted up the pressure and Flacco struggled. The Redskins sent extra rushers on five of his 11 second-half dropbacks and held Flacco to 55 passing yards, sacked him twice, and forced him into two turnovers. Flacco also attempted just one throw deeper than 10 yards after halftime after attempting seven such throws in the first half.

17 -- tackles missed by the Ravens in the OT loss to the Redskins.

At his Monday news conference, Ravens coach John Harbaugh again said that he wanted to see better tackling, and rightfully so. According to Pro Football Focus, Ravens defenders missed a season-high 17 tackles against Robert Griffin III, Alfred Morris and the Redskins offense. According to their charting, six Ravens whiffed on multiple tackles. Free safety Ed Reed's three missed tackles were the most. Tackling was an issue earlier in the season, enough that Harbaugh expressed some displeasure with it back then as well. But the Ravens had been better of late, missing an average of 6.8 tackles over their previous five games.

five -- five straight games with a sack for linebacker Paul Kruger.

Ravens outside linebacker Paul Kruger, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, has really turned it on since the start of November. Kruger has 6.5 sacks in his past five games, including at least one in each of those games, and leads the team with eight sacks. According to Ravens media relations, that five-game streak ties a team record with Adalius Thomas, who did it twice (2005 and 2006). If Kruger can get a sack Sunday, the record is his. But it won’t be easy. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Ravens sacked quarterback Peyton Manning just 10 times in their past eight games against him while he was with the Indianapolis Colts.

eight -- consecutive wins for Peyton Manning against Baltimore.

The Ravens beat a young Peyton Manning in their first two starts against him, but since then it has been all Peyton. As quarterback of the Colts, Manning defeated the Ravens in eight straight starts, including playoffs, starting in 2002. Five of those wins were by double digits. Overall, in 10 career starts against the Ravens, Manning has completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,689 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. But Manning has not played the Ravens since the 2009 season, and he is now with the Denver Broncos, who have not enjoyed similar success against the Ravens. They are 6-3 all-time against the Broncos, including playoffs, and have never lost to them at home.

Bloggers note: Have a nifty stat you want to share? E-mail me at matt.vensel@baltsun.com or contact me on Twitter at @mattvensel. If I end up using it, I’ll be sure to give you a nice plug on the blog.